Welcome to the CISG Advisory Council

(CISG-AC)

Scope and Aims

The CISG-AC is a private initiative which aims at promoting a uniform interpretation of the CISG. It is a private initiative in the sense that its members do not represent countries or legal cultures, but they are scholars who look beyond the cooking pot for ideas and for a more profound understanding of issues relating to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 11 April 1980 (CISG).

The CISG Advisory Council was founded on the initiative of the inspirational late Prof Albert Kritzer of the Institute of International Commercial Law in 2001. Prof Kritzer was at the forefront of the promotion of the harmonization of international commercial law with initiates like the CISG Advisory Council, the Institute’s database on the CISG and the Willem C Vis Moot.

Internationality and Uniformity

As an independent body of experts, the group is afforded the luxury of being critical of judicial or arbitral decision and of addressing issues not dealt with previously by adjudicating bodies. The Council is guided by the mandate of Article 7 of the Convention as far as its interpretation and application are concerned: the paramount regard to international character of the Convention and the need to promote uniformity.

In line with its objectives, the CISG Advisory Council is also committed to the multinational and multi-lingual character of the CISG. Accordingly the opinions of the Council is being made available in all six of the official languages of the CISG as well as a number of other prominent trade languages. In this the Council is well served by the international composition of its members.

Mode of Operation

In practical terms, the primary purpose of the CISG-AC is to issue opinions relating to the interpretation and application of the Convention on request or on its own initiative. Requests may be submitted to the CISG-AC, in particular, by international organizations, professional associations and adjudication bodies.

Observer Status at UNCITRAL and UNIDROIT

On 10 September 2012 the CISG-AC was granted observer status by UNCITRAL. This enables the CISG-AC to attend meetings of UNCITRAL and its working groups.

On 4 February 2015 the CISG-AC was granted observer status at the Governing Council of UNIDROIT. This enables the CISG-AC to attend meetings of UNIDROIT.

New Opinions and Declarations

The CISG Council has  published 23 Opinions and 2 Declarations. The latest opinion is:

CISG Advisory Council* Opinion No 23  Mistake, fraud, misrepresentation and initial impossibility in CISG contracts (Rapporteur Prof Hugh Beale)

For a list of opinions currently under discussion see our Schedule of work page.

New translations

The Council also strive to make the Opinions available in other languages.

The following new translations are now available:

  • Opinion 5 in Latvian
  • Opinions No 20, 21 and 22 in Spanish

New case law

The CISG Advisory Council Opinions have been cited in the national courts of 15 different countries in 82 published cases. The latest reported cases are:

  • Netherlands United Auto Enterprises BVBA v. OC Group B.V. 08 August 2023 Gerechtshof Den Haag (Court of Appeal The Hague)
    Case text (Dutch)
  • Netherlands The North Face t-shirts case 24 May 2023 Case no C/15/331571 / HA ZA 22-544 Rechtbank Noord-Holland (District Court Noord-Holland)
    Case text (Dutch)
  • Netherlands United Product Tankers Ltd et al. v. Golden Arrow Olieproducten Amsterdam B.V. 17 May 2023 Rechtbank Rotterdam (District Court Rotterdam)
    Case text (Dutch)
  • Arbitral Tribunals Inter Rao UES et al. v. CELEC EP Santiago Arbitration and Mediation Centre 29 May 2023
    Case text (Spanish)
  • Netherlands United Product Tankers Ltd et al. v. Golden Arrow Olieproducten Amsterdam B.V. 17 May 2023 Rechtbank Rotterdam (District Court Rotterdam) Case text (Dutch)

New Member

The CISG Advisory Council welcomes Prof Lisa Spagnolo, Macquarie Law School, Sydney into its ranks. Lisa was recently accepted as the newest member of the Council. She is an outstanding CISG scholar and provides the Council with common law expertise from a region that has hitherto been under-represented on the Council.

Welcome Lisa!

Home, CISG-AC

Next CISG Advisory Council Meetings

The next physical CISG Advisory Council meeting will take place in Pavia, Italy during October 2024.  This will be followed by a physical meeting in Lisbon, Portugal in September 2025.

Regular online meetings are also envisaged for 2024 and 2025.

For more information contact the secretary Ass-Prof Milena Djordjević.